Universes, Franchises & Characters – Page 48

Pac-Man Fever

CBS unleashes a particularly virulent strain of Pac-Man Fever into record stores, courtesy of rock group Buckner & Garcia, and there is no cure in sight. With musical odes to the arcade games Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Defender, Frogger, Asteroids, Berzerk, Centipede, and even the relatively obscure coin-op Mouse Trap, this album’s release probably marks the high point of the video game industry “boom” – the apex at which public awareness of video games is at the saturation point, having seeped into the rest of pop culture.

Doctor Who: The Visitation, Part 1

The 566th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.

Doctor Who: The Visitation, Part 2

The 567th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: The Visitation, Part 3

The 568th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Black Orchid, Part 1

The 570th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.

Pac-Man defeats K.C. Munchkin

In a federal court hearing in Chicago, Atari and Midway – as the American licensees of Pac-Man – are victorious over Magnavox, whose Odyssey² cartridge K.C. Munchkin was alleged to infringe on Pac-Man. The court ruling, which results in an injunction forcing Magnavox to pull K.C. Munchkin off the market, says it “captures the ‘total concept and feel’ of, and is substantially similar to, Pac-Man,” and that Magnavox “jeopardized the substantial investments of Midway and especially Atari.” Beaten but defiant, Magnavox releases a K.C. Munchkin sequel later in the year.

Doctor Who: Black Orchid, Part 2

The 571st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Earthshock, Part 1

The 572nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. What most fans don’t realize, thanks to a carefully coordinated reveal, is that Earthshock is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen. The Cybermen are only seen at the end of part one, and producer John Nathan-Turner declines the potentially valuable offer of a Radio Times magazine front cover in order to preserve the surprise.

Doctor Who: Earthshock, Part 2

The 573rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Earthshock, Part 3

The 574th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Earthshock, Part 4

The 575th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen, and the first story since 1966 to depict the death of one of the Doctor’s traveling companions.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!

Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Time-Flight, Part 1

The 576th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.

Doctor Who: Time-Flight, Part 2

The 577th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Pac-Man (Atari 2600)

Pac-Man After an extremely short development period and industry insider warnings that the finished product wasn’t ready for prime time, Atari releases Tod Frye’s home version of Pac-Man for the Atari VCS, selling record numbers… and, within weeks, becomes the subject of bad word-of-mouth and critical slams on its weak game play and graphics. At the urging of Atari CEO Ray Kassar, Pac-Man‘s print run exceeds the number of VCS consoles sold to date, since it’s anticipated that the Pac-crazed public will buy the console simply because Pac-Man is available for it.

Pac-Man Fever on the charts

Buckner & Garcia’s hit single Pac-Man Fever reaches its peak on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9 on the chart. Over a million copies of the single (backed with an instrumental version of the same song) have sold.

Doctor Who: Time-Flight, Part 3

The 578th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Time-Flight, Part 4

The 579th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner. This episode brings the 19th season of Doctor Who (and Peter Davison’s first season) to an end.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Produced and co-written by Harve Bennett (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man) and directed by Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan debuts in theaters. The story follows up on the first season TV episode Space Seed, bringing back Ricardo Montalban (who is now a star thanks to his stint on ABC’s Fantasy Island) as Khan and introducing Kirstie Alley as a new member of the Enterprise crew. With faster pacing, increased action, and a more contemporary military sci-fi feel, the sequel is a hit that guarantees future sequels, as well as gradually increasing interest on Paramount’s part to return the franchise to television years later.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (soundtrack)

Atlantic Records releases an album of selections from James Horner‘s soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. (The same album will receive a CD re-release from GNP Crescendo Records at a later date.)

Tron (soundtrack)

Tron soundtrack Walt Disney Records releases Wendy Carlos’ soundtrack from the movie Tron. Two Journey songs also appear on the album.

Tron

Tron Disney’s Tron – the first movie to pay homage to the ’80s video game craze and the first movie to arrive with video game tie-ins already in the works – premieres in theaters. Starring Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges, the film establishes of the most distinctive visual idea of the decade, that of a person being “sucked into” the digital world, where glowing body armor is worn.

Tron

Tron Bally/Midway releases the official Tron arcade game, based on Disney’s movie, in the United States. Containing multiple games based, either directly or loosely, on action setpieces from the movie, the arcade game is an instant hit even as the film struggles in theaters.

Knight Rider: Knight Of The Phoenix

The first episode of Glen A. Larson’s Knight Rider premieres on NBC, starring David Hasselhoff and Edward Mulhare, with William Daniels as the voice of KITT. Richard Basehart (Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea), Lance LeGault (Werewolf), and Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Battlestar Galactica) guest star in the series premeire.

Super Pac-Man

Midway releases the arcade video game Super Pac-Man, licensed from Namco, the Japanese developers behind Pac-Man, of which this game is a direct sequel.

Tron Deadly Discs (Intellivision)

Mattel Electronics releases the Tron Deadly Discs cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system, based on the movie Tron. A version of this game is also released by Mattel’s M Network imprint for the Atari 2600.

Tron Maze-a-Tron (Intellivision)

Mattel Electronics releases the Tron Maze-a-Tron cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system, based on elements of the movie Tron.

Pac-Man Plus

Still trying to stem the tide of bootleg copies of Pac-Man in American arcades, Midway releases the coin-op conversion kit Pac-Man Plus, offering arcade operators an inexpensive (and legal) way to “freshen” old Pac-Man machines on-site rather than turning to bootleg enhancement kits, a problem that has been stealing Midway’s market share since Pac-Man became a hit.

Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom

Sega releases the arcade game Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom in American arcades. Completely unrelated to the recent television series, the graphically impressive game is designed to be the first in a series, but no further games in the projected series ever materialize.

The first hint of the crash

Pac-Man Warner Communications, the parent company of video game manufacturer Atari, issues an earnings statement in which it anticipates losing money in the fourth quarter of 1982. The losses are attributed to product returns and other shortfalls experienced by Atari, despite the acquisition of licenses for home video games based on Pac-Man and E.T. The reaction on Wall Street is immediate, and a massive sell-off of video game related stock leaves the entire industry reeling within a week. The industry is seeing the first hint of the bust that will end the boom years.

Doctor Who: Arc Of Infinity, Part 1

The 580th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough guest star; for the first and only time to date in the series, the next actor to play the Doctor appears in a small guest role (Colin Baker). This episode is the beginning of the 20th anniversary season of Doctor Who, and brings back Omega, the villain of 1973’s The Three Doctors, in a story set on the Time Lord planet of Gallifrey.